NATIONAL NEWS - In response to the release today of Stats SA's labour report of the first quarter of 2025, the DA says the Western Cape has emerged as the only province to make significant strides in growing employment.
The party says the province managed to grow employment amid a "brutal first quarter for South Africa’s labour market, where national unemployment surged and hundreds of thousands of jobs vanished".
In a statement Noko Masipa, DA Western Cape spokesperson on Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, says the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Statistics South Africa paints a grim picture: 291 000 jobs lost quarter-on-quarter across the country, with major employment sectors like Trade, Construction, and Community and Social Services taking significant hits. National unemployment rose sharply to 32,9%, while the expanded unemployment rate climbed to 43,1%.
"And yet, amid this jobs bloodbath, the Western Cape recorded a quarter-on-quarter employment increase of 49 000 jobs - the largest gain of any province - and a year-on-year increase of 121 000."
Noko says the Western Cape continues to outperform the rest of South Africa on every major labour market indicator.
"Our official unemployment rate stands at 19,6% - a full 13 percentage points below the national average.
"Our expanded unemployment rate is the lowest in the country at 24,7%, and our labour force participation rate is the highest in South Africa at 69,6%. "These numbers hold real meaning, they reflect a working province, where opportunity, investment, and economic inclusion are priorities," Noko says.
"The contrast with ANC-governed provinces is stark. KwaZulu-Natal, for example, shed 104 000 jobs this quarter alone and saw its official unemployment rate rise by 3,7 percentage points to 32,3%. The Eastern Cape’s unemployment climbed to a devastating 39,3%.
Gauteng, once the economic powerhouse of the country, eked out a paltry 9 000 jobs - despite sitting on major infrastructure, capital and industry."
Noko says the Western Cape is the only province that has implemented a serious and evidence-based strategy to tackle unemployment. "Our Growth for Jobs economic action plan is a roadmap to development. We are prioritising high-growth sectors like manufacturing (up 30 000 quarter-on-quarter and 27 000 year-on-year), agriculture (up 51 000 quarter-on-quarter), and finance (up 8 000 quarter-on-quarter and 49 000 year-on-year)."
He adds that the Western Cape is also the only province that saw no net job losses in the construction sector, while other provinces saw major contractions.
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